A Brora quartet for our Christmas


December 25, 2025

A Brora quartet for our Christmas

It is, after all, fairly traditional on Whiskyfun to taste Brora around the festive period. True, nothing particularly new has reached us lately, but are there any new Broras at all? Still, we are some way from having tasted everything that has appeared since the late 1980s, starting with the very first of them all, the 1976 #61.1 from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, released in 1989, which probably played a seminal role, as it was rather magnificent (WF 93).
Anyway, there are four Broras on the table today, none of them yet tasted on WF, and all from rather late in the short life of Brora v.1 (1969–1983). For purely scientific reasons, we shall taste them in order of increasing strength, if you don’t mind…

Brora 21 yo 1982/2003 (46%, First Cask, Direct Wines Ltd., cask #281, 276 bottles)

First Cask was the range of whiskies from Direct Wines, one of the pioneers of direct and distance wine selling in the United Kingdom. We had this baby during the small Brora and Clynelish tasting that I had the honour of hosting at the Whisky Show in London this year. The cask number suggests a Signatory origin. Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: the typical sharpness of Brora, even in these vintages, when the cask was only mildly active. Slightly smoky cider, sake, wet limestone, touches of mandarin peel and bread dough. Little peat and therefore a rather obvious Clynelish side, reinforced by the citrus fruits. Mouth: magnificent mineral fatness, several kinds of lemons and almost wild apples, and that austere side that suits Brora so well. A fairly marked herbal side but counterbalanced by those famous mandarins that are also found in abundance in Clynelish from the same period. Finish: fairly long but a little folded in on grass, fresh bread and white pepper. Comments: a Brora for Brora fans. If you are not one, simply remove five points.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Brora 30 yo 1981/2012 (50%, Chieftain’s, Ian Macleod, butt, cask #1525, 553 bottles)

Ian Macleod had a good number of casks from these 1981 vintages with fairly consecutive numbers. It must be said that these vintages had rather been eclipsed by those from the early 1970s, but with hindsight, perhaps we had been a little harsh… Colour: full gold. Nose: of course this is marked by sherry, but even in 1981 Brora was still a full-bodied malt and balance has therefore been found here, at least it seems so for the moment. It strikes me as very notable to find, for example at this time of year, generous notes of fresh panettone and nougat, accompanied by generous amounts of furniture polish and pollen. This is a firm but gentle Brora for the moment. With water: smoked earth, humus, mushrooms… Mouth (neat): excellent, livelier than the nose, more lemony, which combines well with the sherry’s walnuts. Then come the zests and walnut liqueur, as well as a saline touch. With water: salt, pepper and smoked meats, but in small quantities. Very good. Finish: fairly long, waxy, peppery, maritime and always on walnut. Comments: I have not checked but this is perhaps the best, or in any case my favourite among these 1981 Chieftain’s. The distillate/sherry balance is perfect.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Brora 18 yo 1983/2001 (52.9%, Signatory Vintage, Silent Stills, cask #40, 294 bottles)

We had ‘of course’ already tasted it, but we had never published a tasting note here. It was time! I remind you that this series was delivered with, in addition to the bottle, a miniature of the same whisky and a piece of the cask. I have already heard it said that some of these miniatures were worth more on the collectors’ market than a whole bottle, but I have never checked. In any case, many of these 1983s, therefore from the very last months of activity at Brora, were absolutely superb. A bit of a farewell tour, but since then, as you know, the distillery has started singing again. Colour: white wine. Nose: one finds a little of the First Cask profile but with more fatness, more minerality and even some tar, with here as well a small Bronelish or Clynera side (whichever you prefer). In other words, an abundance of wax, grapefruit, ashes… It is perfect. With water: you would certainly be forgiven if, blind, you spontaneously declared that this was Clynelish. Mouth (neat): my God how it has progressed since our first note, which nevertheless dated from its release, in 2001. Perfect fatty tension, very oily, with plenty of mastic, chalk and lemon in perfect symbiosis. It is also really very Clynelish, even Old Clynelish. I know, I am labouring the point. With water: excellent, always on the same combination and even some olive oil. Finish: mandarin comes to sign all this off, leaving us with a joyful and festive impression. Comments: I do not know whether at the time they guessed that the distillery would remain closed for almost forty years. It seems to me that reopening and revival projects had been devised fairly quickly, but without success.
SGP:652 - 92 points.

I think this last Brora neatly illustrates the crucial importance of line-ups and points of comparison, and why I find it almost impossible to assess a spirit properly without precisely those points of reference and a sound grasp of the scales involved, if you see what I mean. This 1983 simply cannot behave in the same way after a 1981 as it does after a 1972, for example. But let’s move on…

Brora 18 yo 1981/1999 (58.3%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #61.9, 305 bottles)

I say it again, the SMWS had been the first entity, independent or official, to bottle Brora, followed by Gordon and their incredible 1972s, then there was Cadenhead and the very impressive first Rare Malts 1972 from United Distillers in 1995 which, it is said, instantly killed six dozen whisky lovers upon release (be careful with that kind of joke, S.). Colour: pale gold. Nose: we find a more austere version, more on mineral oil, cut grass, green banana skin, mastic… I think it really needs water. With water: tight, austere, acrid, but pleasing on a philosophical level. Little change on the aromatic side. Mouth (neat): brutal, almost violent, harsh, very herbal, with that impression of biting into a bitter orange without even having peeled it (double punishment). With water: it is better now, citrus fruits come to the rescue, but it is still not easy. A medicinal and very peppery side, barely balanced by lime. Finish: long, still herbal, waxy, medicinal, lemony. In the aftertaste, you are almost chewing fir needles. That part works well, it is Christmas after all. Comments: it is of course a very, very good whisky, but in your glass, this is really not a piece of cake. But it is Brora.
SGP:372 - 86 points.

(Thanks, Angus and Billy)

Check the index of all Brora we've tasted

Wait, here's a small extra that probably has nothing whatsoever to do with Brora…

A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 16 yo 2009/2025 (55%, The Whisky Exchange, Highland single malt, 1st fill oloroso sherry butts, casks #31+32, 1,367 bottles)

For once, we are not late, though it was a close-run thing. Colour: dark reddish mahogany. Nose: at first one could almost believe it’s kirsch matured in new European oak, such is the abundance of almond, varnish and preserved, candied cherries steeped in… kirsch, only later do the dates, Corinth raisins, coffee, chocolate and pipe tobacco burst forth, along with little bits of dried beef, jerky-style. With water: small mentholated touches appear, along with fir sap, very classical. Mouth (neat): massive, powerful, still ultra-kirschy, with also a small touch of very old, highly concentrated balsamic vinegar. With water: this time there is almost a young rye side, Willett-style. Finish: very long but balanced, admittedly rich, yet elegant. Comments: this is very, very good and very ‘Christmas’ indeed, of course I wondered whether it could be Clynelish, but the impact of the casks is such that it is impossible to say, the only thing that is certain is that this is not some very peated Highland. Merry Christmas.
SGP:661 - 88 points.